Free and Inexpensive Tools That Will Improve Your Road Trip

Whether you are living the RV lifestyle, preparing for a family weekend, holiday travel, or a family getaway, these free and inexpensive tools will be your next road trip essentials. Safe and enjoyable travel is a fact of life for some. Many RV’ers live on the road. Families travel for holidays and for weekend getaways.

Before I get into the meat of this post, please travel safely during COVID. If you aren’t sure how to travel safely, check your state and local guidelines as well as the CDC website. I also have some tips for you.

Regardless of which category you fit into, these free and inexpensive apps, resources, and tricks will help enhance your travel experiences.

Free tools to use during your road trip.

I’m just going to say it. Papa Joe and I are cheap. We hate to spend money on a phone app or resource if a free version is available. We love road trips and have spent a lot of time figuring out how to maximize our road trip experiences while keeping our costs down. These are our favorite free tools we use while traveling, how to use the tool, and where to find it.

First and foremost, I love me some phone apps. These phone apps are all available in your favorite app store.

Fuel, propane, restrooms, and food. All the road trip essentials.

Ever wonder how far away the next gas station is or what the local fuel prices are? I do. My favorite app for this is GasBuddy. Easily downloadable to your Apple device, you can use this app as a guest or sign in. I don’t sign in, but if you choose to, additional features are available.

I love how the app shows me how far away fuel is, the cost of fuel at each gas station. You can even update fuel prices on the app if necessary. Oh, and did I mention this is a free tool? GasBuddy is a road trip essential for our RV lifestyle.

Another favorite free fuel app is the Pilot / Flying J app. Whether you are looking for convenient restrooms, fuel, a place for RV propane, or a quick meal, we have found this free tool to be a lifesaver for our RV lifestyle.

Don’t forget the weather.

Are you curious about the forecast? Do the kids need a jacket during your next stop? Will you drive through that storm on the horizon? Never fear, MyRadar Weather Radar app can answer all those questions for you and so much more. As a closet meteorologist, Papa Joe swears by this one. Another free tool and incredibly accurate, this one has become a road trip staple for us.

Routing and Maps.

I’m going to give you a couple of points of view on this topic. Let’s face it, almost everyone today uses some form of GPS. In the RV, we actually use a Garmin, Google Maps (usually on both my phone and Papa Joe’s), and a paper map. Many of you may consider that overkill. And maybe it is. But you would be amazed at how often either the Garmin or Google Maps mess up. Or both.

Here is a quick word on the Garmin and other GPS software. If you decide to purchase one of these devices, make sure to select the option for lifetime map updates, and then update your maps annually. It really is worth the effort.

More navigation and routing.

How about having one of the kiddos run Google Maps on their phone and asking for their help finding fuel or points of interest? Or teaching them how to follow your route on a paper map. That definitely adds a different dimension to a family getaway and holiday travel. Keeps the kiddos engaged and teaches them something at the same time. Winner winner, chicken dinner.

That is one perspective on using GPS apps. Here is another one. We use a point of interest (POI) resource called POI Factory for our Garmin, and let me tell you why! I am driven to visit restaurants featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives when we are in the area. Wouldn’t it be helpful to have those programmed into your GPS? How about knowing where the Harley Davidson shops are? Or Bass Pro. Or, I don’t know, maybe knowing where speed cameras are at. We have downloaded all of these and so much more from POI Factory.

Sometimes the POI is the Pillsbury Dough Boy beside the road. Sometimes it is a great restaurant. Either way, POI Factory has added a lot to our family getaway road trip experiences. Many of the downloadable POIs are free, others are available for a minimal fee.

Roadtrippers is another great option for road trip navigation. While it isn’t one I use, I have several blogger friends that swear by it. The “plus” version is a subscription, but may well be worth the cost.

Rest areas are an absolute road trip essential.

Have you ever wondered how far the next rest area is or what amenities the rest area offers? Our favorite go-to resource for rest areas is Google Maps. The steps are simple and easy to follow.

Using Google Maps, enter your destination and start navigating.

1. While it is actively navigating, you should see your route as a bold blue line and you should see a magnifying glass in the upper right, tap on the magnifying glass to search for things along your route, you will see a screen that looks like:

2. Notice how you can easily search for Gas stations, Restaurants, Grocery stores, and Coffee shops, but you’re not limited to those. If you click the last button “Search” you can look for anything along your route.

3. Tap Search and type “Rest Stops” all the rest stops on or near your route will pop up, including information on how far off your route it is: 3 minutes, 6 minutes, or Quick Detour

4. Tap the stop you like best and Add to Route. Google Maps will navigate to that stop. After your stop, it will pick up your route again to navigate to your final destination.

This one is especially helpful when we are in the RV, as one of the features Google includes is whether the rest area has a dump station. Seriously, you RV’ers know how important that information can be!

Last free navigation resource – this is a great one for the RV lifestyle or family getaways!

Papa Joe loves a resource called Mobile RVing. Their RV Trip Planner page works very similarly to Google Maps.

Enter your starting point and destination, and watch the RV parks along your route appear! Now, you may think this only works for the RV lifestyle, but that’s simply not true. You may be surprised at how many RV parks and campgrounds also offer cabins and yurts. In other words, lodging for family getaways. Yep, campgrounds aren’t just for RVs anymore.

Here is a sample of our projected route for a December 2020/January 2021 RV trip. Complete with ratings, details, and phone numbers, this has become a great free navigation tool for us!

Free tools for organizing your road trip.

So far, almost all of my tips have been free tools that could be your next road trip essentials. I was serious about using free tools and resources. My next tip is no different.

It is no secret that I am an organizer. A planner. I like having information at my fingertips.

How often have you walked up to a hotel and felt that moment of panic when you couldn’t find a reservation number? Or had difficulty checking in for a flight without your booking number? How about when you have navigation directions to your destination that contradict each other?

These questions all bring me to my favorite app, TripCase. I use TripCase for all of these things I mentioned in the previous paragraph, and so much more. As a one-stop-shop to store any relevant information about your destination or activity, it has saved my bacon more than once.

The screenshot below is a quick example of our recent Fall Colors trip. Within each of these entries, I have directions to our destination, confirmation numbers, check-in, and check-out details, and much more. I actually use the information on trips stored in TripCase as I write blog posts.

Seriously, this one application has simplified my copilot responsibilities like you wouldn’t believe.

Safety while on the road.

My last tip pertains to whether you live the RV lifestyle, are ready for a family weekend, or are preparing for holiday travel. Safety while on the road is always a concern. Papa Joe and I have a roadside plan similar to AAA for our RV and carry AAA for our passenger vehicles.

Good Sam has a great roadside assistance program for RV’ers, check it out if you don’t currently have a plan!

Getting stranded on the road is no joke. Be prepared.

My final word on free road trip tools.

Papa Joe and I sat down, combed through our travel resources, and pulled our favorites out for you. Whether you live the RV lifestyle, are ready for a family weekend, or preparing for holiday travel, these are our favorite free and inexpensive travel resources. Each is easy to use, can be downloaded or bookmarked on your smartphone, and is easily available while driving down the road.

Best of all, none of these prevent you from being a spontaneous, safe holiday traveler. Go forth, travel safely, and make the most of the road trips spent with loved ones!